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Tia Silverthorne Bach is on a virtual book tour this month to promote her coming-of-age story, Chasing Memories.I have agreed to review the first chapter of this novel for the tour.

BLURB:There isn’t another way; not now. The others are coming. I can’t let them have you…

Seventeen-year-old Reagan has a problem: She can’t remember what happened the night her brother was taken.

Now, the dreams haunting her from the incident are becoming more intense by the day. All the while, the lines between what’s real and what’s a product of her paranormal-obsessed mind are becoming blurred.

Is she losing her mind or has she just stepped into a world she thought only existed in books?

COVER: Very intriguing. Though based upon the prologue and first chapter I have no idea what the werewolf (maybe) peering through the the bushes has to do with the story line, this is an excellent cover choice for the genre. This will be a dramatic story that involves family, hunting, and the paranormal, so the creepy eyes staring out at the reader catches your attention. All covers should be this good.

FIRST CHAPTER: Reagan is bored by life in Superior, Colorado. Not much happens there and she is forced to deal with a mom who seems like she’s trying to become BFFs with Reagan and her friends, an outdoorsman of a father who has planned a family vacation to Yellowstone where she’ll be stuck camping in a tent and freezing her butt off, and an annoying little brother who she has to drive everywhere.

It’s her senior year in high school and she should be thrilled that her boyfriend Dex is so into her, but she’s not. Like her parents, he seems to run her life. But hopefully things will change when she heads off to college next year.

KEEP READING: If I had to base my opinion solely upon the first chapter, I would probably say no. Reagan comes off as a bit of a whiner and not a tremendous amount happens that compels me to keep going. There’s a party. Stuff happens. Reagan is unhappy about Dex and her parents running her life. But overall, she doesn’t come across as someone I want to get to know.

That all changes, however, when you read the prologue first. The events in the prologue actually occur a week later than what takes place in Chapter One. The family is in Yellowstone when something unexpected and horrible happens. The prologue is so enticing and thrilling that a first chapter filled with everyday happenings in small town America drops the intensity from the top of the mountain to the lowest point in the valley. The shift in pace is felt immediately. My confusion increases when the second chapter brings the reader back to the events from the Yellowstone cliffhanger from the prologue.

I definitely plan to continue, but I hope the pace evens out a bit. I don’t mind peaks and valleys, but I don’t want to feel like I’m riding the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney, dropping thirteen stories each time I switch chapters.

Reviewer’s note: Due to the content of what I’ve read so far, I wouldn’t suggest this book for anyone under the age of 16.

Tia Silverthorne Bach is an avid reader, sometimes runner, involved wife and mother, and rabid grammar hound in addition to being a multi-genre writer. Her three daughters were born in Chicago, San Diego, and Baltimore; and she feels fortunate to have called many places home. She’s the award-winning co-author of Depression Cookies, a coming of age story written with her mother. Tia’s office is wherever her laptop takes her and any place that’s conducive to allowing a wild imagination like hers to flourish.

I didn’t ask to meet ghosts. Shoot, I was fine without them in my life. Uncle Craig and Hannah were nasty to me, but at least I knew how to handle living pains in the butt. Now I have to figure out how to open and close a portal between the human and spirit worlds. And I have to find and return a bunch of angry ghosts through the gateway and lock them on their side. I don’t know why the portal chose me to do this, a fifteen-year-old kid with no ghost busting experience. But it did. And if I want a ghost-free night’s sleep anytime soon, I’d better figure out how to get the job done. Because I’ve about had it with murderous ghouls and their unpleasant agendas. “Signed Tallis Challinor”

After the death of her parents, Tallis Challinor and her brother Wyatt must move to the Midwest to live with their dead mother’s sister and her family. When Aunt Sandra dies three-and-a-half years later, Tallis and Wyatt find themselves moving yet again, this time to New Hampshire to live with their father’s sister, Aunt Gabbie, and her husband Noreis. Gabbie is young, pretty and fun. Tallis remembers being a little girl and playing with her Aunt at the family home in California, before her parents died. So Tallis is excited to re-locate and reconnect with Gabbie. But what should have been a happy reunion is plagued with problems when Noreis opens a portal between the spirit and human worlds located in the basement of the house.

Tallis is a practical kid. She doesn’t believe that ghosts exist. But she can’t deny what she sees with her own eyes and the two ghosts Tallis meets at Thanksgiving in the basement of her aunt’s house are definitely not figments of her imagination, although she wishes they were. Tallis is unwittingly drawn into the portal’s energy when one of the ghosts fixates on her and forces her to assist in the release of three particularly nasty spirits. As a final blow, the portal chooses Tallis as a temporary gatekeeper and she finds herself charged with the duty of returning the very ghouls she’s set free, plus a few of their buddies, back to the spirit realm.

As Tallis learns the secrets of the portal and begins to understand her newly acquired power, she formulates a plan to return the ghosts. Along the way, she receives help from many new friends who fill in the details about the identity of the escaped spirits, providing a possible motive for the outrageous actions of the escaped ghosts. Tallis must learn to trust herself and others as she taps into her inner courage to get the job done and save her town from the angry restless dead set.

Read an excerpt!

April 29th, 2:30 in the morningOne week to go.I feel it, the nearness of the spirits. The fact thateverything is aligning to some sort of conclusion. I hope I’m ready. I hope I have the power to finish this thing. And, I hope that Gregory Millard calls soon.

The shrill ring of the phone pierced the late night silence ofthe house, startling me out of an exhausted sleep. My body jerkedto semi-awareness and I reached for it, knocking it to the floor inmy confusion. I reached down, patted the floor, and finally foundthe phone as it rang for the third time.

“Yeah?” I mumbled.

“Hello, can you hear me?” shouted a voice I didn’t recognize.

I was groggy with sleep and confused as to my exact location.The voice continued hollering at me, but I had trouble focusing on it as my sluggish brain worked to figure out why I wasn’t in my bed. Finally, I remembered that I’d fallen asleep on the sofa in the front room. Satisfied that I could place my body in space, Idirected my mind to the person who was calling. A glance at the clock on the wall said it was 2:00. In the morning.
“Who is this?” I asked, stretching my neck until I felt a loud,satisfying crack.

“My name is …” a male voice started, then abruptly stopped.The connection appeared to be lost.

“Hey, are you there?” I hollered back into the phone, assuming that if the caller had to yell to be heard, he needed me to yell back at him.

“Tallis, what’s going on down there?” my aunt, Gabbie, called to me. She hurried down the creaky, wooden staircase.

“Phone call,” I mumbled when she appeared in the doorway.“But I think the connection’s broken. It wasn’t too good to start with.”

Gabbie moved to my side and looked down at me. The flickering fire in the wood stove illuminated the paleness of her skin and amplified the heavy shadows under her eyes. She looked awful, much older than her twenty-seven years.

“Do you think?” she began, and then swallowed. “Is it him?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

The voice burst through the static. “Gregory Millard.” He was gone again.

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KD Pryor started life in Missouri, where she read lots of books, even sneaking them into baseball

games to the irritation of her father. Kelley graduated with a degree in International and Comparative Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After college and marriage to a great guy, she decided to pursue a law degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Her oldest son was born soon after law school, followed three years later by her daughter and a move to Kentucky. One more son, a move to Ohio and four years later, her family jumped on the opportunity to move to India. They lived in Bangalore, now Bengaluru, for four wonderfully chaotic years, traveling all over Asia, Australia and Europe.

Now, settled in New Hampshire with her family and herd of cats (only three), she can often be found in her office, working on the next installment of “The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean” series, reading one of a dozen books she has started, and dreaming of her future travel destinations.

“The Portal’s Choice,” book one in “The Gatekeeper’s of Em’pyrean” series featuring Tallis Challinor, was released on May 6, 2013.

“The Forgotten Gate”, book two in the series, is scheduled for release in 2014.

TL Spencer was born in Lincolnshire (UK) and, as her father was a member of the armed forces, she travelled frequently. As a child, she lived in places such as Reading and Salisbury, taking advantage of being a short drive from the mystical Stonehenge – one of her favourite places.

She was diagnosed with epilepsy while living in Germany aged 11, and turned to writing as a way to cope with her condition. She is now studying at university and hopes one day to become a teacher.

Thank you for joining us today, Terri. Can you please start off by telling us a bit about yourself?

My full name is Terri-Louise and I am a Leo baby, born on 7 August 1992 and I live in the fabulous seaside town of Cleethorpes – they have the most scrumptious fish’n’chips – in the north of England. I am fascinated by anything paranormal and I adore any kind of animal – even the ugly ones.

When did you first get bit by the writing bug?

I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of eleven; writing became a way to cope, a way to vent out my frustration. It was a form of therapy. However, the first time I considered myself a writer and really got bitten by the bug was when I started writing my novel, almost two years ago.

Why did you decide to write stories for the YA market?

The YA market is incredibly versatile. It is also more accessible for me as a writer. I am only twenty years old. It would be silly for me to write about adult issues. I haven’t been an adult long enough; the stories would lose their atmosphere.

What is your favorite part of writing for this group? What is the greatest challenge?

Writing on the whole is a challenge; there are deadlines, expectations, editing, plotlines etc. Though, while you are scribbling/typing away, you are not necessarily thinking of all these things, as soon as you finish, they all start to run around in your head. The greatest challenge for me as a writer however, is dialogue. I loathe it; for me it is one of the most difficult things to accomplish.

Can you tell us what your latest book is all about?

Blood Prophecy: The Fated Threewww.apostrophebooks.com/books/blood-prophecy is a three part novel of magic, love, vampires and betrayal. Three young women discover they are bound together by fate and must band together in order to save the world from darkness.

What inspired you to write it?

Inspiration came from many places. There were several authors (JR Ward, Kerrelyn Sparks, JK Rowling) whose books influenced my work but the main ideas came from mythology and religion. The concept of the triple goddesses and ancient prophecies; all these are deeply embedded within Celtic myth.

Dave Becker is an author and artist living in Pennsylvania, trying desperately to avoid all plagues, curses, and monsters. The Faustian Host is his first novel.

Thank you for joining us today, Dave. Can you please start off by telling us a bit about yourself?

I’m an artist as well as a writer. I’ve worked in marketing for decades, doing graphic design as well as copywriting, and a host of other skills that simply make me a fantastic liar.

When did you first get bit by the writing bug?

I’ve been dreaming up various stories and characters since before I could actually write them down. Like many people, I toyed with it for years, but became serious about becoming a published author about 10 years ago. Funny how these things take a lot longer than we plan.

Why did you decide to write stories for the YA market?

It’s probably the market that currently offers the most freedom, variety, and reach right now. Basically, it’s just the most fun. Plus, I wanted to write something that my kids would enjoy reading, which I hadn’t attempted before.

What is your favorite part of writing for this group?

Teens have a passion for everything. I’ve been a youth leader at my church for over 20 years, working with every age group from sixth grade to college, and the kids are infectious. They provide a revitalizing view of the world, and they’re more honest and loyal than oldsters. I’m not sure why we lose that just because we age.

What is the greatest challenge?

I’m an old geezer now (to them) and have to constantly remind myself to make my characters speak, think, and act like teens, not miniature adults.

Can you tell us what your latest book is all about?

Plymouth Rock is bleeding. Day has turned to night. Hundred-pound hailstones level buildings. The small town of Clement seems cursed, and the residents know who’s to blame: the new kid, Tony Marino.

After losing his family and his home, 14-year-old Tony is forced to move from Florida to Massachusetts to attend Kalos Academy, an unconventional school for gifted children. Strange things begin to happen the day he arrives, and soon stories of plagues, monsters, and mystical objects surround him. Refusing to believe superstitions, Tony struggles to explain the occurrences logically, until he comes face to face with a satanic cult determined to bring about the end of the world.

The Faustian Host follows Tony and his friends as they race against evil forces to find Biblical relics hidden around the world that possess unspeakable power. Whoever holds these objects has the power to control the world, or destroy it.

What inspired you to write it?

After reading several paranormal novels, I decided to try my hand at the genre. But after too many unoriginal concepts, I bagged the idea and started to develop the story of a group of gifted kids at a special school. I needed some inciting incident, and for whatever reason, I imagined Plymouth Rock bleeding. That led to other bizarre “plagues,” and the next thing I knew, my characters were dealing with black magic and the end of the world, and I had created a paranormal story quite by accident.

In November I plan to release an adult, psychological thriller entitled Mindfront. And the sequel to The Faustian Host is scheduled to be released next summer.

Do you have anything else to add?

Just in case I’ve worried anyone, rest assured, the world’s not going to end with the strange plagues in The Faustian Host. It’ll be those infernal penguins. They’re coming for us, and someone needs to stop them!

How does a girl choose between the one who steals her heart and the one who owns her soul?

Matt and Emily were created for a specific job. Raised and trained as the ultimate angel/warrior team, they are sent down to save, defend, judge and forgive, depending on the ‘life’ they’ve been assigned. What they don’t realize is that the power of human emotions, such as love, anger, passion and fear can take over even the best of souls, causing them to make mistakes and follow paths that lead to confusion and heartache.

When the reason for their training is finally revealed, the angel/warrior team find themselves thrust into a world they know nothing about. Matt takes over the life of Daniel, a young man with a great deal of baggage. Emily becomes Liz, a girl living in a remote village who relies on nothing more than her own strength to survive. A violent storm erupts one night, and framed in the window of Liz’s establishment is a frightening face. Let in by the soul of a Good Samaritan, the two visitors bring with them a past full of secrets that could literally change an angel’s path and a warrior’s plans.

From murder to redemption, this angel/warrior team must find a way to keep the faith they have in each other in a world that’s ripping them apart.

Why is paranormal romance such a big hit with the YA market?

I love this question because an author just asked me why the adults aren’t reading as many books as they used to. She was struggling to understand what ‘piece’ had suddenly gone missing in the adult fiction genres. I have to say, for a long time we were doing things that were fun – mysteries, suspense, awesome puzzles to figure out like, The DaVinci Code. But then we just seemed to switch; the books became depressing and female characters had no spark. There was no strength or power left in the heroine. The YA fiction market is huge, and the reason it’s huge is because of the romance, the paranormal worlds and characters that take us AWAY from everyday life. People want that, and that’s why more and more adults are reading teen books.

This genre offers a way of getting beyond what we see when we turn on the news. When you head into a paranormal YA book you get a hero, a super-strong heroine who has a ‘voice’ and isn’t afraid to use it, a love triangle that hooks readers right off the bat, and locations that we can only imagine. Romance will never die, but paranormal romance is reaching out to readers and bringing them in droves. They know that with these novels they can get away and experience excitement, love, yearning and mystery all at the same time…and forget about everything else that’s going on outside that window. I really hope that adult fiction goes back to this formula because we are all really missing those good, solid adventures.

I tried to make Until Next Time stand out in a variety of ways. When I turned to angels, I really wanted them to be different from any other angelic series that’d been written. I began by making them a team – an angel/warrior team that was actually created to be a partnership. You can’t have one without the other. And I didn’t want them to be tormented, I wanted them to be ‘new’ teenagers that hadn’t yet seen the ‘real world’ or gone on any adventures (like most teens who are waiting for that shot at freedom).

I wanted to know what a purely innocent soul would do and how they would react when they ran face-first into human emotions. Down here we have jealousy, anger, envy, romance – all of it, and I wondered how these two characters would keep their faith in one another in a world that was trying to tear them apart. They came down from a ‘perfect’ world, so it was a real thrill ride to see them deal with an imperfect one.

I also wanted the “love triangle” to be extremely different than anything else. In most novels we do know who the friend is going to be and who the soul mate is, pretty early on. With Emily, however, her soul mate is Matt – because they were made that way. But because of the job they have to do and who and what they are, she also has a soul mate on Earth. So it will be very interesting to see who she finally chooses.

One other thing that makes Until Next Time stand out is the fantastic cover! The designer and creator of that cover is a genius! And I can’t wait for the world to see a ‘gilded’ Matt on the next one.

Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.

Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.

She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.

Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.